


She Had the World

by Nicholicious



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Background Meihem, F/M, Fluff, Pining, Pretend recall was in february, Romance, Some angst, making amends, tags are pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-19 23:20:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9464996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicholicious/pseuds/Nicholicious
Summary: Genji does his best to watch his Valentine's day countdown, and with the help of a few old acquaintances, he just might make it soon enough to fix his years-old mistake.It's never too late, but it's always a matter of time.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [smilingRocket](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=smilingRocket).



> A present for smilingRocket from the gency discord server. I never planned to write gency until I got you, so i hope you think it's as cute as im told, darling c:
> 
> Based very slightly on the song "She Had the World" from Pretty. Odd. by Panic! At the Disco (lots of punctuation i know). I'd  
> \---strongly---  
> recommend listening to it before or while you read just so some of the lines have added effect.

A time came when Genji Shimada was punished for his self. His personality, in his harsh family, was not acceptable; he was a rash playboy in denial, ignoring his own duties from day to darker day.

Cut and cast away to rot by his own brother, he had almost wished it was the end. All the time he'd spent doing anything but work, he might as well have been clearing out his bucket list. There was little left to live for.

Unfortunately - or perhaps fortunately - for him, his wish was not granted. He lamented, as not even _fate_ would have him. There was no flash of light before his eyes as he reached his bloodied left hand for the heavens.

Only a sight he would forever remember, one he would long for as many years as he then lived. She grew to become his motivation, although she was complicatedly so.

A hand took his. He squeezed, he held on.

And so his punishment was a new beginning, a new life, one he lived as commanded, for he had little choice in the matter. Overwatch saved Genji, which meant in their time of need, he had to be there. 

Previously, the boy had been, on all accounts, a demanding, somewhat-friendly outgoing loudmouth. When he awoke from Overwatch's treatment, he was someone else entirely. He was someone new - all days beyond his cyberization were part of what he considered his second life.

He was aware that his second chance was undeserved. He was aware that society would shun his form, and so he stayed quiet, watching from the corners, basking in the shadow od doubt. There was nowhere to belong, and he knew that he would have to stay how he was.

Alone.

He merely carried out his orders, saving whoever needed to be saved, be it civilians or teammates, otherwise staying on the sidelines. The boy's efficiency was rarely lacking, unlike the light that used to glint in his youthful eyes, which no one - not even Genji himself - had seen in a while.

Genji and his damned semi-humanity proved to be an obstacle for himself and those around him. His fits of rage were hardly public, but his taking of Angela's attention became a known occurruence among the community of Overwatch's agents.

With no reason to socialize, the least Genji could do was observe. His gaze, now hidden to all, went unnoticed to most. 

There were occasions where others approached him, which was typically when his view was discovered by a pair of concerned ocean-blue orbs, always ushered towards him by her friends. Few that spoke to Genji had received proper closure, and the boy intended to keep it that way.

As for the intentions of those who approached him, on the other hand, that was something Genji had little control of.

_"Genji? I... brought you chocolates. Swiss."_

_It must've been that time of year. He huffed. "You have no one better to give them to?"_

_"N-no. And I was... thinking the two of us could share?" A hopeful smile._

He had been hesitant, but he eventually complied. The two had shared a room for the night of Valentine's day. She was delighted to see a side of him he refused to show to anyone else as he taught her of his grim past before she returned the favor.

However the next morning, he had left before she could awake, an apologetic sparrow feather having taken his place on the pillow. No need to further any burden on the busy woman, he figured. He was out of his mind, after all. Who could ever love him?

She was a miracle worker. Angela Ziegler, part of the world's strongest peace-progress organization mankind had ever seen, could bring people back from the brink of death; she had the world upon a string.

But she could never have Genji.

Genji knew she just used him to pass the time.

Soon after that incident came another, one that Genji would not hear of for a quite a while from where he hid in the mountains of Nepal.

Overwatch had disbanded.

Far too late, he would realize he was a fool.

In his third life.

~+~ 

_February 10th, 2076_

"Is this what troubles you?"

The monotonous voice echoed in the large meditative cavern. Genji had summoned his Master to speak with him in the sanctum despite the time of night, which he obliged to happily.

"My student. If you love this woman, go get her. What are you waiting for?" There wasn't a hint of urgency in Zenyatta's tone, rather he gave the suggestion as if awaiting some sort of counter.

Seated with his legs crossed just a few feet from his Master, Genji kept his head ducked in contemplation.

"I don't know if it is love any more than it is tying up loose ends. I don't even know where to find her, Master."

The monk shook his metallic head and hummed. "You can not begin with all the answers."

_Such patience,_ Genji thought. _No wonder I stayed here._

Standing up, the cyborg bowed to his Master and approached the door.

The Omnic called from behind him, "Have you so easily come to a conclusion?" 

Genji's hands formed fists, then released. _Could I possibly mean more to her now than I did then?_

His visor displayed a message.

_Recall?_

_Only one way to find out._

"I have. Thank you, Master."

~+~

_February 11th, 2076_

Finally in his destination in the U.S., Genji waited a moment, but the haze of the hallway turned out to be too much to bear. He pulled the door handle to find it unlocked.

Smoke filled the fugitive's room as well, although Genji had his visor, thankfully.

Shutting the door as he entered, Genji cleared his throat. "Knock knock. You alive down there, old man?"

A cough came from the man laying on the bed with his hands behind his head comfortably. He lifted the tip of his hat so his eyes were visible. "I ain't old, kid," he drawled. "Y'better not be here to turn me in."

"No, nothing like that. Your recall beacon just made finding you easy, and I have a question or two."

The cowboy put his cigarillo out and brushed himself off. "Whatcha want, then, Shimada?"

"You were friends with Ms. Ziegler, were you not?"

McCree sat up, chuckling. "Don't you say she's bein' tailed by the cops too, that innocent lil' thing."

Sirens wailed in the distance, the sound passing through the boarded up windows. Genji remained silent and unmoving, watching dust spin around in the dirty light of McCree's motel hideout.

"Oh, don' tell me," the quiet must've given him away. McCree laughed some more, shaking his head. "If y've come to your senses and like the woman back, y' shouldn't be callin' me old, Shimada. We're the same age."

Genji looked off to the side. "Naw, go on, whatcha wanna know? We never 'ad a thing, if that's what y' want."

Even with a mask, it was impossible to hide his feelings. "Do you... know her favorite color?"

McCree hummed. "Blue, like the sky."

_Like her eyes._

Off to a good start. "Do you know her favorite flower?"

"Try cherry blossoms."

A pause. They could hear hard knocks on the motel's front door below them.

"Do you know where I can find her?"

"'Fraid that's all I can tell ya." McCree stood and made himself busy as he pulled the blinds up, taking his time with unlatching the window.

There would be other people with information. Angela didn't have her recall beacon active, but plenty of agents did. Agents that Genji hoped would have connections.

"She couldn't ever catch ya, you know? 'Nd now you're chasin' after her. Throwin' a line out to sea." The cowboy mused. 

"...Right."

Footsteps shuffled loudly down the hallway. Genji turned to peer at the door, and when his eyes returned, he saw McCree sitting in the open window.

"Answerin' the beacon's made us all criminals, Shimada. If she hasn't answered, she's clean. Find 'er, or it's only a matter o' time before they find you."

He stepped towards the cowboy just as McCree leaned back smoothly and fell nonchalantly out the window, which also happened to be just as the door turned into splinters. 

Genji dove outside without looking back at the shouting police, knowing that being any later would have meant not catching McCree.

~+~

_February 12th, 2076_

Once guards were out of his sight, the ninja dropped from his hiding place and entered his next destination.

He spotted his newest subject in the corner of her lab, trying to push something - or some _one_ into a closet in hushed whispers. 

The scientist, hearing the automatic door shut, quickly spun to address her visitor with eyes closed and a wide smile, body-blocking the closet. "Hi there!"

"Ms. Zhou."

She peeked with one eye, then gasped. "Oh! Genji! It's good to see you." She ran to hug him, and he saw the closet door she had closed move just a bit, making singed hair visible in hiding.

He would let it slip, since he needed her help.

"I apologize if it is a bad time, I only have a few things to ask, and I'll be on my way," he said as he gestured to the paperwork stacked on her desk. 

"Oh, it's no bother. I'm just glad you aren't one of those men who are keeping a 'safe eye' on me," Mei crossed her arms. "What's that all about anyways?"

"Someone recalled Overwatch. If you responded, it seems you are against the law. Much like your friend there." Genji pointed to the closet.

Mei glared angrily at it, and it closed fully, a suppressed maniacal giggle sounding from the other side.

"Your turn. What's going on with you?"

Genji sighed, scratching the back of his neck and looking anxiously around the room. "I'm searching for Doctor Ziegler, Mei. She didn't respond to the re-"

A squeal stopped him there. "You two would be so _cute!_ "

Was he really that obvious?

Mei was sputtering things about their adorableness until she noticed Genji's discomfort. "Sorry, sorry." She took a deep breath, unable to hold her excitement. "Last I contacted her, she was in Stuttgart."

Genji crossed his arms. "With Reinhardt?"

"Most likely."

Genji started making his way to the exit. "Thank you, Mei. I'd best get going before I'm discovered."

"Wait!" He paused to listen. "If you don't mind my asking," Mei kicked at the floor, "do you love the doctor, Genji?"

He stiffened. Did he love Angela? What did he want from her all these years later? He had hurt her, he thought. Or perhaps she hurt him? His memory was clouded. No matter how little he spoke, Genji had been reckless as a member of Overwatch when it came to relationships - that is, when he managed to form them.

Angela had always tried to reach out to him, from the moment she saw him in a hospital bed. It was not often that they spent time together, making laughter more precious. Genji, however, hardly cherished it. Now he considered: could she have possibly understood him?

If she didn't want anything from him, why was she so persistent that he meet with her all the way until that fateful Valentine's night?

Genji's mind was clear.

Without facing Mei, he nodded, and continued walking to the door.

The closet shot open. "Seeya, cyborg ninja!"

"Jamison!" Mei scolded sharply.

Genji just chuckled. "Until next time, mister Fawkes."

Thus did he begin his journey from China to Germany.

~+~

_February 13th, 2076_

Genji tread carefully among the trees. He could see a village in the distance, so he picked up the pace.

Laughter boomed somewhere to his right, and so he altered his course, scaling a house for a better view, having little trouble despite the luggage he carried.

Perhaps he would finally find her here.

Doubtful.

"Brigitte, wait. I'll only be a moment."

Genji slid down from the rooftop, listening from around an alley corner to make sure the coast was clear.

He wasn't the only one listening.

An armored hand reached and easily gripped Genji's arm, lifting him a couple feet by surprise.

"Wha-"

"My friend! You could have just said hello!"

Genji swung from Reinhardt's loose grip onto his shoulder, sitting comfortably atop the knight.

"Perhaps that would have been wise."

Reinhardt guffawed, catching his breath in time for conversation. "What brings you to Stuttgart? Looking to hide from the officials as I am, I gather?"

"I was hoping to discover the location of a certain Swiss Doctor. I can see now that is a more difficult task than anticipated."

Reinhardt hummed in understanding, walking along with Genji still seated on his shoulder. "That's odd."

"It is?"

"Miss Ziegler left for Japan just a few days ago. Hanamura, I believe. She had been going on vacation, and thus deactivated her beacon. She also seemed to want to find someone. To find _you_."

_Those eyes? Looking for me...?_

Genji flailed his arms and fell back, Reinhardt unable to catch him before he hit the ground back-first.

With his eyes to the sky, imagining his prize was never easier.

Laughing to himself, Reinhardt recognized the longing in Genji's sigh. "I promise you, you will find her there," Reinhardt said, extending a hand.

Genji accepted the giant's offer, and once he was standing again, he wasn't sure what to do. He swayed dreamily.

"Go on, then! You're almost out of time!"

Snapping out of it, the boy rushed off in search of his desire, leaving Stuttgart behind. He had one more stop before Hanamura: Switzerland.

Reinhardt watched him go.

"Something wrong, Herr Wilhelm?"

"Oh, no, Brigitte. Just... a familiar feeling is in the air, I know it."

"What would that be?"

"Hmm... Love."

~+~

_February 14th, 2076_

Birds chirped and streams sang stories of miniature clashing waves along pebbles and green grass. The grass' natural color was second brightest only in comparison to the pink of the sakura trees.

Red parasol over her head, Angela adjusted her hairpin before strolling through Hanamura's beautiful cherry blossom gardens. The sun's heat was no overwhelming force; it was a warm day, perfect for a walk.

There she sat on a bench by a small stream that passed through the area, straightening out her grey-and-gold dress. No longer was she the woman who spun the stars on her fingernails, as Overwatch had been shut down years ago, and she had put her abilities to little use without her old allies.

_What a way to spend Valentine's day._

"Ack!"

The clumsy cry and flying pink petals behind her sent her to her feet to investigate.

A cyborg body holding onto a grocery bag for dear life was not what she expected to find.

"Genji?"

"Doctor?"

She knelt beside his head. "Are you hurt?"

His head was pointed at her as he chuckled, indicating that he must be looking at her. "Nothing you can not fix."

She giggled half-heartedly, patting where his forehead would be.

"I can't believe you're here." A pause. "How... did you find me?"

"It has been a long, perilous ride," he said apologetically.

He sat up and watched her expression go somber. "Where have you been all these years?"

She wouldn't look at him, arms folded.

He awkwardly began, "I..." but was cut off.

"How stupid was it of me?" She huffed, shaking her head as if holding back tears. "Like a schoolgirl crush. That's how I treated you," she sniffled. "That one night... oh, Genji, I saw someone I could love. I cared for you deeply, so I was there when you hurted. It wasn't just because helping was my _job_. I... only wish you had just told me you didn't feel the same."

Genji was speechless. With neither of them sure what to do now, Genji scratched the back of his neck, even though he thought yet again that he couldn't itch.

"...Angela?"

Another sniffle. 

"I... brought you chocolates. Swiss."

He pulled a blue heart-shaped box of Swiss chocolates from his grocery bag, topped with little branches of sprouting cherry blossoms.

"I was hoping you would share them with me?"

She finally met his concerned gaze. Wordlessly, Angela leaned forward and pressed both hands to the buttons on the back of Genji's helmet, removing it delicately and basking in his true appearance, running a hand through his hair and stopping it at the back of his head.

Blinking her tears away, she raised a questioning eyebrow, to which he nervously nodded.

They kissed for a sweet moment, steam releasing from his armor as his face reddened. When she backed away, he looked shyly into her happy eyes with no visor tainting his vision.

And, twice reborn, he finally saw more than the sky.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading c:
> 
> Ive read over this and added to it so many times ive lost track of recent changes. hopefully i didnt do anything too stupid.  
> Timeline (starting 2016):  
> -30 Years (2046): Omnic Crisis Begins.  
> -35 Years (2051): Overwatch Founded.  
> -40 Years (2056): Omnic Crisis Ends.  
> -57 Years (2073): Overwatch Disbanded.  
> -60 Years (2076): Present Time in Game


End file.
